Future workspaces would be less defined, says lead architect at office design firm Morphogenesis

Gone are the days when people came to office to work only. Retail companies often host the field staff to sleep over at offices, during the festival sales. Google’s ‘nap-pods’ are worth envying and who would not want to work in an office that provides free food and stay over.

Welcome to the workspaces of future. The world of work is gearing up quietly to brace the impact of automation and robotics. Accordingly, workspaces are being re-shaped and re-defined too. The staid, office cubicles have given way to re-configurable spaces.

To check on what office spaces could look like in future,
TimesJobs spoke to
Sonali Rastogi, architect and the Founder Partner of Morphogenesis. With her team, she has designed some of the well known new-age offices in India like the Apollo Tyres Corporate office in Gurugram, Jubiliant R&D Center in Noida, DS Group office in Noida, Jindal Pipes Office in Gurguram among others. Excerpts from a conversation with her:

TimesJobs: Which workspace elements which are being preferred these days?Sonali Rastogi: Work floors are becoming less defined. Most offices are being designed for people to occupy and translate it into any space that they may require at any point. Hence all possibilities, like physical meetings, video conferencing, virtual meetings are being considered while designing office spaces. The common rooms are now being configured in a way in which they can be quickly modified to any use like physical interaction, virtual communication etc. In that sense the definition of a
‘room’ (in physical sense) is becoming more loose and the configuration of the ‘
room’ (in physical/technical aspects) is becoming more firm.

TimesJobs: With automation and robotics coming in, how are workspace elements changing?Sonali Rastogi: The change is already seeping in - like you have apps that help you select products on websites or bots solving your banking queries online etc. While it’s difficult to say what kind of changes would come in (design-wise/architecture-wise), it is certain that the manner of conducting businesses/work is changing. Five year ago, no body had heard of a term called ‘crypto-currency’. Today some of us own crypto-currency. A total change in society and manner of conducting businesses is coming in.

TimesJobs: Are organisations coming up with unique demands to change their workspaces, catering to demands of multi-generational, diverse workforce?Sonali Rastogi: Yes, for some time there has been a strong demand for differentiated workspaces, especially for mother-friendly elements in office spaces. In order to bring the 50% workforce (women workforce) to office, organisations have started looking for structural changes that suit women, especially the mothers.
As for making workplaces inclusive for physically challenged workers, there are very few organisations that are sensitive about it. Be it Braille-enabled lifts, wheelchair friendly ramps, walkways – the number of companies willing to make changes, and those who have made these changes is just numbered.

TimesJobs: With linear structures catching up and expensive real estate, what elements could define the future workspaces?Sonali Rastogi: This is difficult to predict because we are assuming that the migration to urban centres will continue. On the other side we are talking about a time when automation and virtual working could be the norm. For all you know, in coming years people may not want to cluster around the office or commercial spaces. They many want to live in locations of their own choice and work virtually.
With digital becoming an order of the day (shopping/banking/service and product delivery) the concentration around the centres of commerce could become obsolete. And then the whole notion around prices of real estate would change. Therefore, it’s difficult to say if offices will be linear or other shaped.

What is your view on workspaces of future? How will office spaces change? Share your opinion in comments section.